Hidden Costs: Feeling Burnt Out as a Caregiver

Caregivers are the raw energy input that keeps an adult family home and its residents thriving and at optimal health.

Both the AFH business and its residents benefit directly from the tireless efforts of the caregivers and business owners. But what happens when the caregivers give so much attention and energy to their community that they fail to take care of themselves?

It’s pretty simple — they begin to get burnt out. And when that happens, the effects can cascade far beyond their own mental and physical wellness.

What is caregiver burnout?

Caregiver burnout displays itself as a state of physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion. It happens when caregivers allot so much of their time to others that they cannot take proper care of themselves.

Often, we see this begin to present itself in adult family homes that suffer from a lack of operational process.

Without a clear role definition for caregivers and standard operating procedures that keep the business running smoothly, employees often need to pick up the slack. And there is A LOT of slack to pick up.

The effects can present themselves in multiple ways:

  • Caregiver withdrawal from family and friends
  • Getting sick more often
  • Emotional and physical exhaustion
  • Serious financial consequences for the business

How burnout affects the business

Burnout within the caregivers of an adult family home causes an upstream effect on the business itself.

When caregivers get burnt out, it’s not uncommon for the business to begin to churn residents, struggle to keep up with resident needs, cut costs in sensitive business areas, and even face legal consequences when caregivers may make unintentional mistakes.

The financial aspect of caregiver burnout within an adult family home is not the only thing to consider when seeking to address and treat the cause of burnout.

Addressing the root cause of burnout

Like many things in life, treating the symptoms only provides temporary relief. However, treating the root cause will produce a lasting benefit.

At AFHSC, we are no stranger to the phenomenon of burnout in caregivers. Therefore, we have sought to engineer processes that produce this lasting benefit for caregivers, residents, and the business itself.

AFHSC’s approach to preserving caregiver wellness

At AFHSC, we have decades of experience operating successful, healthy adult family homes.

We understand that the key to providing a positive experience for caregivers and residents is by helping to create as much consistency and reliability as possible.

Our experience has led us to develop operational processes that help simplify all of the nuances of running a successful adult family home.

These processes address the core tenets of an adult family home’s business operation:

  • Compliance and legal support
  • Keeping the AFH at optimal occupancy
  • Providing support resources for caregiver wellness
  • Defining clear roles and responsibilities for caregivers
  • Optimizing supply and maintenance programs within the AFH
  • Tailored, personalized service through AFSCH

Our proven processes lead to a much more sustainable workload for caregivers and significantly increase their ability to continue providing such essential services to the residents.

Partnering with AFHSC and optimizing your adult family home

AFHSC is committed to helping adult family homes be the very best that they can be. Caregiver burnout is just one of the areas we can make a difference when a business decides to become a franchise owner with AFHSC.

By tapping into our dedicated support and wealth of experience, caregivers and adult family homes can enjoy the following:

  1. Higher quality resident experiences
  2. More consistent profitability as a business
  3. The support you need when challenges crop up

Compassion is our business, and efficiency leads to a greater emotional bandwidth for everybody involved in the business — including caregivers themselves.

We strive to help residents, caregivers, and AFH business owners with all the tools and resources needed to have the best possible experience.

If you’re interested in becoming a franchisee with AFHSC, we would love to connect and get to know you and your goals for being an AFH owner.

Click here to learn more about our state-of-the-art AFH franchise program.

 

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